James L. Doti: Open borders for U.S., Mexican and Canadian workers

Recent immigration reform legislation reminds me of a line attributed to Yogi Berra: “It's deja vu all over again.”

It is a mirror image of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. That act increased restrictions and toughened penalties for hiring illegals in exchange for giving 3 million illegal immigrants legal status. Similarly, the current legislation trades tougher border security as a pathway for 12 million illegals gaining citizenship.

The mindset for the 1986 act as well as this year's legislation is basically the same: Get rid of the current “problem” of too many illegals living and working in the U.S. by granting them citizenship. At the same time, prevent the “problem” from reoccurring by making it more difficult for future illegals to cross the border or find jobs once they are here.

This stale strategy didn't work in accomplishing its goals in 1986, and another version of it will fail again. No morally acceptable means of deterrence is strong enough to withstand the intrinsic urge for people to better their lot in life. Pervasive market forces, fueled by the benefits of free trade, are breaking down national geographic boundaries. An example of this is the North American Free Trade Act of 1994, which significantly reduced trade barriers between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. While most U.S.-Canada trade was already duty-free, NAFTA eliminated tariffs on roughly half of all U.S. industrial products exported to Mexico.

When NAFTA was being debated in Congress, a major concern was that lower-cost Mexican exports would flood U.S. markets, thereby displacing our workers. That never happened. Since NAFTA's enactment in 1994, the share of U.S. exports to Mexico has increased from 9.9 percent to 14 percent, while the share of U.S. imports coming from Mexico increased from 7.5 percent to 12.2 percent. Mexico is increasingly more important to the U.S. as a customer than as a seller of goods and services.

NAFTA has helped make North America an economic powerhouse. Allowing goods, services and investment to move more freely between borders has added immeasurably to global economic growth.

NAFTA-like legislation that extends free trade to include workers and their families would make it legal for people to cross borders to work anywhere in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Consider the benefits:

Labor would be mobile, with workers flowing to regions where demand is greatest.

Illegals in the U.S. would not need to become citizens in order to work. They would receive job-related visas and apply for citizenship at a later time, if they so desire.

The significant costs of immigration barriers, like walls and border controls, would be greatly reduced.

As more illegal workers move from “under the radar screen” jobs to legal jobs, tax revenues will increase.

American citizens would benefit from new job opportunities as our “partner” nations increasingly tap into their vast energy resources.

Open borders that allow for legal worker mobility can be tied to agreements that allow for common land ownership laws as well as legal protection in securing land title.

Allowing labor mobility can be predicated on adopting common environmental and anti-corruption laws that level the playing field.

Lawmakers interested in drafting such legislation need not start from scratch. The European Union has already done it. Mobility is one of the success stories. A European Commission report published in 2008 concluded, “Practically all of the available evidence suggests that the overall economic impact of recent intra-EU mobility has on balance been positive and that it has not led to serious disturbance in the labor market, even in Member States which have seen a large inflow of workers from the new Member States. A more comprehensive 2013 study from the Migration Policy Institute, “How Free Is Free Movement?” concludes, “What evidence exists suggests intra-EU mobility has had a positive impact on Europe overall.”

That greater labor mobility positively impacts an economic region should not be surprising. It forms the economic basis for our nation. The benefits emanating from footloose labor within a nation can be further enhanced by the inclusion of contiguous countries.

James L. Doti is president and Donald Bren Distinguished Chair of Business and Economics at Chapman University.

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Letters to the Editor: E-mail to letters@ocregister.com.
Please provide your name, city and telephone number (telephone numbers will not be published).
Letters of about 200 words or videos of 30-seconds
each will be given preference. Letters will be edited for length, grammar and clarity.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.